1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communication systems and, more particularly, to a configurable patch panel system that permits communication between devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Patch panels have been in existence for many years and still find use today. For example, military locations (e.g., sites, ships, submarines, etc.) have large numbers of existing (legacy) voice and data services that are carried over a wide variety of radio links. These voice and data services include services provided by specialized telephones, teletypewriters, etc. with wiring that runs to a “radio room.” The wiring terminates in a patch panel within that room. From there, they can be flexibly connected to any of a number of existing radios. Thus, by appropriate connections at the patch panel, a certain device can connect to a given radio.
Currently, all of these connections are done by manual cabling. This restricts the locations at which connecting devices/radios can be located. This also makes it difficult to change large numbers of connections between the connecting devices and radios.